The game wasn't decided until Corey Frantz (23 points) drew iron at the buzzer on a 3-pointer that would have forced overtime.

"That's not the best we can play," Cardinal coach Brad Pensyl said after he did a masterful job of pushing the right buttons to keep his team in the second half title chase. "I'm happy to get out of here with a `W."'

A good example of Pensyl's ability to dictate the action came in the waning moments. Steve Olizarowicz, a hero on Friday with his fourth quarter free throw shooting, missed the front ends of two bonus situations in the closing seconds. The Bulldogs cashed in as Scott Noakes (13 points) and Frantz hit treys to make it a 73-72 game with 14 seconds left.

"We didn't have enough time to get picky. We were fouling anyone we could get," Bulldog coach Dave Oertner said. "Once they missed, I knew we had a shot."

Pensyl boldly replaced Olizarowicz with sophomore Colin Coffaro, who promptly bagged both ends of a 1-and-1 with 12 seconds left to seal it.

"Olizarowicz was shook," Pensyl said. "Some people might say, `What are you going to do that to the kid for?' Hey, he missed two front ends. I wanted to put another kid in who can shoot fouls. I didn't want to lose the game. The kid (Olizarowicz) doesn't mind. The way I looked at it was, let someone else have a try."

The Cardinals (14-3, 3-0) showed the depth that has enabled them to reel off six straight victories once towering junior center Bill Nish (11 points, 8 rebounds) took an early seat with three fouls.

"Losing Nish killed us," Pensyl said. "But, you've got to play without him. You can't sit there and feel sorry for yourself. It's part of the game."

The Bulldogs (5-12, 1-1) muffed their glorious chance to expand upon a seven-point lead (17-10), however. In fact, the Cards raced into the lead with a 22-10 second quarter that was fueled by the slashing inside moves of junior guard Kendrick Morgan (17 points).

"I thought we were in big trouble at the end of that first quarter, but Morgan brought us back," Pensyl said.

"That's where we lost the game," Oertner said. "We lost our heads on offense and stopped playing defense. They scored six points in the last minute of the half without going over halfcourt because we fouled them. We missed some one-and-ones and got impatient."

Both sides traded parries until the fourth quarter, when the Cardinals began to dominate the boards. The huge forward wall of Nish, Bill Smith (13 points) and Frank Zardecki attacked the offensive glass for four key hoops that helped the visitors maintain a seven-point lead heading into the final moments.

"We didn't rebound. We didn't get a body on them. For a while there it looked like we were going to let them shoot until they made on. We also didn't shoot from the line (16-for-30)," Oertner said.

Frantz showed a lethal shooting stroke all game long.

"He can shoot and he can pass," Oertner said. "His problem is that he's so small and light he has trouble defensing. He knows it. He's got to work really hard. Offensively, he runs the show for us."

Pensyl was relieved to dodge Frantz's final bullet, "Maybe he can't shoot when he's wide open."

The Bulldogs again got a huge contribution from Jason Plotsko, who poured in 23 points.

"I am concerned that we're getting up 8-9-10 points on people and then letting them come back," Pensyl said.

"We know if we're going to win the league, we've got to go into Lehighton 5-0. We have no other choice," Pensyl said. "I don't know if they're feeling that pressure. We just didn't play well tonight.

"They (Bulldogs) should be nothing but proud. They were hustling their rear ends off," Pensyl said. "That's what athletics are all about. I'm proud of my team, too. A year ago we would have lost that game. Our young kids are growing up."